Maximizing Resource Use by Reining in Virtualization Sprawl: How Real Users Optimize Virtual Environments with the VKernel Optimization Pack

Date: 11/05/2009

Length: 3 pages

Cost: $99.00

Abstract:One of the main benefits of virtualization is increased flexibility and agility – a key outcome for 60% of organizations, with provisioning times up to 240 times faster than traditional physical servers. However, it can also create a significant problem – sprawl, including:

• VM Sprawl – without the constraints of hardware procurement, administrators can easily over-provision virtual machines (VMs). A lack of good management tools exacerbates the problem, as VMs are easily deployed, but not so easy to track, manage, and delete.• These factors lead to so-called ‘VM sprawl’ – the ever-increasing provisioning of unmanaged VMs. • Storage Sprawl – As organizations expand their virtualization deployments, they also see an ever-increasing consumption of storage – so-called ‘storage sprawl’. With each VM consuming potentially hundreds of gigabytes, and snapshots proliferating without controls, each new VM inevitably increases storage utilization.

This EMA White Paper explains more detail on how VM sprawl and storage sprawl occur as a result of virtualization, and the critical implications they have on cost, ROI, human resources, audit and compliance, and flexibility. It also explores solutions from VKernel released as part of the VKernel Optimization Pack, which aim to directly address these sprawl issues. In addition, two focused case studies show how two organizations used the VKernel Optimization Pack to avoid or defer over $30,000 each in hardware purchases.